Search for the Origins of Christian Worship

Title: Search for the Origins of Christian Worship

Author: Bradshaw, Paul F.

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Synopsis

This is a substantially expanded and completely revised verision of Bradshaw's classic account, first published in 1993. Traditional liturgical scholarship has generally been marked by an attempt to fit together the various pieces of evidence for the practice of early Christian worship in such a way as to suggest that a single, coherent line of evolution can be traced from the apostolic age to the fourth century. Bradshaw examines this methodology in the light of recent developments in Jewish liturgical scholarship, of current trends in New Testament studies, and of the nature of the source-documents themselves, and especially the ancient church orders. In its place he offers a guide to Christian liturgical origins which adopts a much more cautious approach, recognizing the limitations of what can truly be known, and takes seriously the clues pointing to the essentially variegated character of ancient Christian worship.

Content

1. Shifting Scholarly Perspectives

• Book about the first few centuries of Christian worship
• The Philological Method
  • Early study was based upon the assumption that Christ or at least the apostles - would have left clear directives
  • The variety of eucharistic rites must be ultimately derived from a single apostolic model
  • Apostolic Constitutions discovered in late 17th century was believed to be the comprehensive liturgy as set forth by the apostles.
  • "The philological method does not function nearly as well with such material as it does with parallel texts that can be compared with one another.
  • Liturgical manuscripts are not unique in this respect. They belong to a genre which may be called "Iiving literature'.This material which circulates within a community and forms a part of its heritage and tradition but is constantly subject to revision and rewriting to reflect changing historical and cultural circumstances.
  • Some liturgical texts included "liturgical debris"
• The Structural Approach
  • “In his well-known work, The Shape of the Liturgy, first published in 1945, Gregory Dix (1901-52) was one of the severest critics of attempts to find a single original apostolic eucharistic rite.16 However, he did not really abandon the theory, but merely revised it. In his view, the various forms of the Christian Eucharist did have a common origin, but this was to be sought in the structure or shape of the rite rather than in the wording of the prayers:”
  • “first-century Jewish liturgy from which Christian worship took its departure was not nearly so fixed or uniform as was once supposed, and that New Testament Christianity was itself essentially pluriform in doctrine and practice.”
  • “what was once one loose collection of individual local churches each with its own liturgical uses, evolved into a series of intermediate structures or federations (later called patriarchates) grouped around certain major sees.”
• The ‘Organic’ Approach
  • “The basic flaw in this approach was a failure to recognize the essential difference between nature and culture:”

Other facts

• Used for: Foundations of Liturgy & Sacrament TRS 640
• Purchased: January 2016

Bibliographic info

• Personal name: Bradshaw, Paul F.
• Main title: The search for the origins of Christian worship : sources and methods for the study of early liturgy / Paul F. Bradshaw.
• Edition: 2nd ed.
• Published/Created New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.
• Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0611/2001058098-d.html
• ISBN 0195217322 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• LC classification (full) BV185 .B734 2002
• Dewey class no. 264/.009/015
• LOC permalink https://lccn.loc.gov/2001058098